a surprise appliance

Since I've become a housewife and mother, I've come across the discovery that many wives and mothers find great joy and excitement form a new appliance. Before I had children, this was a true mystery to me. I'd ask my friends, "how can you possibly be happy that your husband got you a vacuum for your birthday?!" it just seems wrong.

Now of course, I share this odd pleasure in new appliances and gadgets made to make my life even just the slightest bit easier. I squeal when we get new faucets, like a tot with a first bike. I even ASKED for a vacuum for my birthday. and, when I was taken to choose it in the store, was thrilled silly.

Husband is a plumber- He works with all kinds of people, and more often than not, comes home with 'gratuity gifts'. Many people will give him bags loaded with fruit or vegetables from their gardens, (we currently have ALOT of apples) . He has a customer that keeps us well in fresh maple syrup. among those treasures, there are some that make me ask if these were the leftovers from the most recent yard sale. some of it is just weird.

Last night , I was in the act of multi-tasking between my daughter's homework, my son's flawless ability to fight with me over putting his laundry away, doing my own paperwork, and also frantically reminding myself that it was past time to start dinner.
I was a little crazy busy.

So when my phone rang, it was really tempting to ignore it. Husband name showed in the ID, ignore not an option. As soon as I answer it, I hear him, sounding as frantic as I was feeling , "empty the fridge and freezer NOW, quick quick hurry I'm on my way and it has to be done now. "
'What are you talking about?
"just do it, get a kid to help and do it quickly please"
um...
okay.
I relieve my son of his laundry duty and enlist him to make a food pile. I take it out, he finds a place to put it. this in itself was amusing. Jar of pickles, on the table. Jug of milk on the floor. eggs on the stool, condiments under the table. one thing was placed in every corner, shadow, nook and cranny of the kitchen. somehow sour cream made it into our food shelves. but, it was out, and it was quick.

Husband arrives and rushes into the house, grabs the refrigerator, and pulls it out into the middle of the floor. Son and I get the hell out of his way, though we are certainly curious as to what is going on.Husband has , in his insistence of rushing, given us the impression that if he doesn't get the fridge out NOW, it will explode or something, ,and we don't want to miss that either!

He pulls a tape measure out of thin air, and starts sizing up the space. "uh...ok, hang on." talking to himself is not a good sign.
A pal appears with another tape measure , and a power saw. Son gets a bit excited now- tools are awsome, but this one looks loud. behind him is his grand daughter, and the children run off to play, the saw temporarily forgotten.

It turns out the nook for the old fridge is just an inch too small for the new one.
new one?? hey now, wait a second....
no time, we have it under control.

They 'shaved' the cabinets with the saw. I am now torn between the great pleasure of a new fridge, and the horror of wood dust I will be subjected to once this tornado is through. While this emotional turmoil is running through me, the saw keeps going. Son appears, hands over his ears, but still not willing to miss the display of any power tool in use.Daughter also arrives to the scene, "whats going on? I can't do homework with that on."

I'm still curious as to if the old refridgerator will explode .

We all watch as the men dash back outside, Husband asking me to vacuum the floor in the nook. I do so, and before I'm even done, they have another fridge coming in the door. Into the nook it goes. perfect fit!
while they make adjustments, bring the doors in, and collect tools, I realize the front door has been wide open, and there is no sign of our dog. Oh no. Two seconds later my phone rings, the neighbor has him and is walking him home.Thank God. I go get the dog and tie him out back, and return to the tornado area.

Pal calls to his granddaughter, and they disappear almost as quickly as they had arrived.
Husband states it may be a good idea to order a pizza.

I stand ,stunned, looking at my kitchen. a new fridge in the nook (YAAAY) , wood dust coating everything, bottles and jars of warming food stashed in every corner, the old fridge in front of the sink.
Yeah. pizza sounds good.
what the hell just happened here?

The fridge turns out to be something a customer offered. Husband and pal were on the job, and the customer asked if they wanted to buy it ,at an impassible price. Husband jumped all over it, knowing the wife/mother of the house would kill him if he did pass it up.

The big hurry was the result of pal having to pick up his grand daughter at school, to take her home, where her father was waiting to take her to an appointment.

bummer. no explosion.

The pizza eventually arrived while I was vacuuming and hunting down all of the food items son had stashed. it was similar to an egg hunt. Husband kept finding things that I missed. We aren't quite sure we found it all.

The fridge is great, we now have the water service in the door, which thrills my son, who already plans to get all of his own drinks now. It thrills me as well, the old one at times sounded like it would lift off into space , and many of the shelves were a hazard when opening the door.
It is 'resting now, because to get it into the van they had to lay it down. tonight we plug her in, and fill it.
Because we can't use the new one until tonight, the old one is also still in the kitchen, and running, for said food items.Its an interesting scene. The old fridge will have a new nook in the garage, where husband has been desperately trying to grow a 'man cave' .


Amazing how something so seemingly simple can become such a circus isn't it?